Kings X – This Band Was Once The Future Of Rock

Twenty five years ago – on March 28 1988, Kings X released their debut album Out Of The Silent Planet out into a very noisy world. The majority of the planet was busy making lots of noise, and has still yet to notice. However, for some, Kings X were spoken about as The Future of Rock. Their extraordinary music took rock music in new directions – and they were certainly an antidote to the hair metal bands of the day.

Kings X announced a London show at The Marquee in Charing Cross Road shortly after Out Of The Silent Planet was released, and I heard their call. Although I didn’t have the album, I thought I would go along and check them out.

I took this photo in 1991 at Wembley Arena when they supported AC/DC

The first cheer of the night came when the PA announcer explained he had asked the band how to pronounce their name. “It’s Kings Ex, rather than Kings Cross” he explained to a British crowd who were more familiar with the train station.

The three piece nervously took the stage. After the first song, I wasn’t sure if I liked them. They were very different to the likes of Aerosmith and AC/DC. But it only took until the third song to realise Kings X might have something special. As the hour long set climaxed, the audience turned The Marquee into the loudest building on the planet and raised its roof. The crowd were on their feet (it was an all-standing venue, so that’s damning them with faint praise a bit) and baying for more. Kings X had played their debut album almost in its entirety, had played a new song (‘Mission’) and then a very fast instrumental that would be released a few years later as ‘Moanjam’.

After several encores, they came out onto the stage to acknowledge probably the most ecstatic crowd I had ever witnessed and mouthed “We don’t know any more songs” to try to placate them. I thought to myself, even a noisy planet will soon know all about this band…

I bought the album, and it neatly slotted into my “Best albums of 1988” list.

Like the Seattle based bands that followed them, Kings X tuned their guitars low to give a bass heavy, grungy sound. They were no Nirvana though. The three piece blended deep, crunchy guitar riffs with gospel-like yet Beatles-tinged vocals and liquid rhythms. It sounded like nothing else that had been before.

Lead vocalist and bass player Doug Pinnick, in contrast did look like something that had been before, what with his military jacket and Wild Man of Borneo hair. He dressed like Hendrix with a mohican, but sang like no-one else.

A year later Kings X released a new album, Gretchen Goes To Nebraska. It was even better than the debut. They announced another gig at The Marquee. The noisy planet began to sit up and take notice of this odd-looking three piece with their tuned-down guitars, lush harmonies and wild solos.

Once again Kings X reduced The Marquee to mere rubble. It was an amazing performance, the kind that people count alongside the birth of their children, their wedding day or the time they defeated M Bison with a perfect score in Streetfighter II as a key moment in their lives. The stage diving that went on during the gig was extraordinary. People were just jumping onstage during the songs and launching themselves back onto the outstretched hands of the packed crowd. It resembled a David Attenborough documentary about lemmings at its peak. I looked up and there were two members of Anthrax joining in the stage diving, soaring over my head with huge grins on their faces. I have never before or since seen members of other rock bands stage diving at another band’s gig. This is a shame. How good would it be to see Justin Beiber stage diving into a Slipknot crowd – or perhaps even better – members of Slipknot at a Bieber gig?

So what happened to Kings X: the Future of Rock? Grunge happened.

Simply put, grunge turned out to be the future of rock instead. Sometimes that’s just how it goes.

Kings X’s guitarist Ty Tabor had an unusual guitar sound and style. But Kings X were not a grunge band. And after Nirvana conquered, although Kings X continued to make some excellent albums (Faith Hope Love, Dogman, Ear Candy), these perhaps lacked the impact of the first two records, and their moment had passed. That noisy planet carried on its business, listening to something else instead. It was the planet’s loss.

It sounds pretty clear to me. Downtuning, the Classic Rock influences, the harmonies (very pre-Alice in Chains). I remember Billy Sheehan at the time talking about it in an Guitar Mag interview, saying basically “don’t get me started on Grunge, all those guys just ripped off Kings X and won’t admit it”. That’s not an exact quote…

That’s an interesting point – the influences are all there. My instinct is (and I may be wrong) that the grunge movement came out of somewhere else at the same time – ie it was a coincidence. Like the Billy Sheehan quote says, I have never heard them being acknowledged as an influence. Makes you wonder though.

I’m not entirely sure myself, but after listening to Kings X recently and reading that interview I thought it was interesting food for thought. Not being a huge Grunge fan, I’m not exactly up on the timeline and there were definitely plenty of other influences going on there too like the Melvins etc…

Grunge came out of Seattle’s isolated petri dish. All the bands there influenced each other more than anything else, except classic rock like Black Sabbath. I honestly think King’s X had nothing at all to do with grunge. The grunge sound was already in place when King’s X’s first album came out.

Mick Wall has a book of old interviews – Appetite for Destruction: Legendary Encounters with Mick Wall – I’m pretty sure both Pearl Jam & Alice In Chains acknowledge their debt to Kings X in their interviews in the book. But if you can’t already hear the obvious influence of Kings X on “Ten”, “Facelift” and “Dirt”, I’d say there’s little hope for you!

To say they were not acknowledged by grunge is not quite true. Notice Jeff’s Tee-shirt in this clip from the Movie Singles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-FaHqfpXR0. As a hardcore King’s X fan, that was one of my favourite moments of the movie.

Ament was an unapologetic apologist for the band, and was one of the first to point out the King’s X/Grunge connection. It might be he and not Sheehan that HMO is referring to below.

Jeff Ament modeled his early bass rig after Doug Pinnick’s. 12-string bass an all. He even joined them onstage at Woodstock in the 90’s to play Manic Depression. The guys in Seattle were very aware as were many other future music stars around the world. I remember reading an article featuring Dimebag’s favorite albums and he listed OOTSP and Gretchen as two he couldn’t live without. Hell, he was hanging in their dressing room at Trees in Dallas when I saw them there in ’96. Oh yeah, Deep Purple asked Doug to be their singer as well, but he declined to stick with KX.

When I heard King’s X for the first time was only in 2013, too late, but by then I was already a massive Soundgarden fan for many years. (and every project Chris Cornell was involved in general, the guy is just a songwriting powerhouse…) I still remember, my first reaction upon listening to King’s X was the immediate similarity to Soundgarden (heavy drop tuned sound with melodies…) It was like it sounded like all my favorite bands combined into one, there was even some bits of Van Halen in there. “This band is crazy!!” xDDD
After some investigation, I came to the conclusion that Ty Tabor was already using drop-D tuning around the same time Soundgarden started using them too (possibly Tony Iommi influence from both sides) so there’s no way to say who came up with it first. Soundgarden had other innovations too, like the crazy alternate tunings. But the level of musicianship and polish the early Ty Tabor’s demos from the early 80’s I think predates Soundgarden by a few years.
And then there’s another guy that for some reason is terribly underrated that never gets mentioned anywhere: Dean DeLeo (the DeLeo brothers from Stone Temple Pilots) That guy has some of the most jaw-dropping and innovative guitar work I ever heard! And he too, like Soundgarden, was hugely influenced by Zeppelin apparently.

music, music , music, oh oh over my head. Thanks for posting this. I loved these guys. I wore that tape out. I had forgotten all about them. Great write up. Looking back, my buddies never got into them, like I did.

I, too, remember that time. In fact, I wrote a letter to King’s X after buying “Gretchen”, asking where I could find “Out of the Silent Planet”. I received a long, hand-written letter back from Doug, along with a picture of them on stage, labeled “London Marquee”. How cool is that?

I sure do! I have an amazing scrapbook which documents all the shows I’ve seen and bands I’ve met, etc. In gold marker it says, “2 Matt Thanks for the support. Doug” and “London Marquee ’89”. A giant Texas flag is behind them. Wish I could have been there.

I’ll get it scanned and use it as the subject of a blog post in the near future. I’ll show the letter, too. You’ve never seen such a long, beautifully hand-written in pen manuscript with nary a mistake.

I once saw members of Anthrax stage diving when Metallica played the 100 Club in London a couple of days before Donington in 1987. I think a girl wound up having her leg broken… A year later members of Anthrax were on hand right down the front at a Frehley’s Comet gig at the Limelight in New York. A tremendous day in hard rock history. Van Halen, Metallica, The Scorpions, Dokken and Kingdom Come had just played across the Hudson River at Giant’s Stadium and Gene $immons and Paul Stanley appeared on stage with Ace Frehley in this converted church for the first time in eight years (I don’t count TV shows in 81 and 82) for the encores. They didn’t stage dive on this occasion, but Scott and Charlie from Anthrax were going nuts!

Dave – I love the fact that you read my blog because I get comments like this! So we learn that Anthrax were in fact serial stage divers, and that three members of Ki$$ staged a reunion in a NYC church! Great stuff – thanks. Add those to the comment above about handwritten notes from Kings X to their fans – good times.

Since discovering the Blog due to the Shades post I’ve become an avid visitor. It’s always a great read!

An anecdote related to that Kiss story above is that Gene, Paul, Eric Carr and Bruce Kulick were all present at the ‘Monsters of Rock’ gig during the day (as were assorted members of Anthrax). I was over there to interview Kiss ahead of Donington that year (1988). I remember Eric following these girls around all day (two of whom, I found out, were in an all-girl band he was helping out) until one of these girls turned round and asked him why he was following her around like a little dog. I told Gene this story the next day and he absolutely cracked up laughing.

Anyway, as I was going from the backstage catering area to go out into the main stadium to see Dokken or the Scorpions, I noticed that, for some reason, Gene and Paul were hanging around outside Van Halen’s dressing room (which, given their stature even at that time I thought a little ridiculous). For some reason, long before the band was ever due on stage, Van Halen’s security team cleared everyone away from the door and piled the band (Hagar was, of course, fronting them at this point) into a Chevy Van that had been driven up to the dressing room. This van then went at some speed a few hundred yards to the stage and then, without the band getting out, reversed straight back again and the band went back to the dressing room without saying a word to anyone, let alone Gene and Paul. This happened at least three or four times. It was very, very odd to say the least! The distance between the dressing room and the stage was nothing. Security was very tight. They could’ve walked when the time came. It was ridiculous.

Perhaps they went back for more M&Ms?
I can just picture Gene finding someone struggling with women a very funny concept.
That Shades post is my favourite piece on here – purely for the comments that are at the bottom of it.

When I moved to South Texas, I was in the band’s home area, since they hail from the Houston suburbs. I saw them perform at a street festival there. After their show, they casually walked off the stage like regular guys and stood around talking. My friend and I went over and talked with them for quite a while, and Jerry Gaskill gave me a drumstick, another memento given to me from a very generous band.

Great article! King’s X is one of those bands where you just have to scratch your head wondering why the hell they aren’t huge stars. They almost never come up to Canada (they had a show booked in Montreal a few years back but it was cancelled for lack of sales) but I was lucky enough to see them live twice opening for other artists. They’re one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen.

They seem to have rotten luck though. They couldn’t capitalize on their Woodstock ’94 appearance, and their touring is always spotty. I remember them being booked on strange tours also, like that Dio-Hammerfall-King’s X tour where they weren’t received well (I wonder why!).

One thing I wonder is if their lack of success by attributed to their unevenness? To me,their best songs are near perfect, but the album filler is really bland. It seems like they have no middle ground, which is strange for such talented musicians. Ty Tabor has also done a lot of cool things outside the band, especially Platypus/Jelly Jam.

As for the grunge influence, I’m not sure they influenced the Nirvana side of grunge, but Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden were definitely influenced by them. I don’t know if it’s a true quote but I once read that when Jerry Cantrell was asked “What will the next Alice in Chains record sound like?” he replied “I don’t know, we’re waiting for the new King’s X record.”.

Some good insights here. Sometimes it’s just not meant to be. Perhaps quality became more patchy after the first two records as you say – there’s also a lot of luck involved – especially if you are doing something a bit against the grain.

Many grunge bands claim to have been influenced by King’s X. I am pretty sure I read that Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam cited King’s X as his biggest influence and a major influence on their sound. The late, great Dimebag also listed King’s X as his favorite band.

I don’t know about this “meant to be” business, but think about your own first reaction. King’s X isn’t very “hooky”–they’re not necessarily immediately appealing. It’s not *particularly* complex or recondite, but you do have to give it some space to let it speak to you.

Kings X never made it big for political reasons alone. For some reason, nobody at MTV or in LA ever got the big money machine behind them. We all know that’s what really drives the music business. MTV was busy playing Paula Abdul videos every 17 minutes. I think they just never were in the right place at the right time. What other reason could there be? No living person in or around the music business has anything less than total praise and admiration for them or their music. I chalk it up to lacking management.

Still excellent live – saw them at the Electric Ballroom a couple of years back. Great setlist too, taking in a wide range of their albums. You know you’re in the presence of proper musicians – not always the case with rock/metal bands.

Jerry Gaskill’s been quite seriously ill recently, but think he may be on the mend. Tres Mts is worth a spin just to hear Doug Pinnick outside of Kings X. And Galactic Cowboys of course for the biggest King’s X wannabes!

Yes, it was an incredible soundtrack. And yes Megadeth is on there too. Coincidentally, I just published on article on Friday about the soundtrack to Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, which I may like even more.

Music business history is strewn with examples of what might have been, granted few in the “rock” arena that come anything close to the brilliance of King’s X on their best work. The 1st Doug “Poundhound” solo effort to my mind is output that most bands would give their collective right arms to produce as their main offering in the hope for mega-sales and world domination! The good news is that King’s X continue on. I had the pleasure of saying hello to Mr. Pinnick on on afternoon back in 1991 on O’Connell Bridge in the centre of Dublin. I saw King’s X later as support to AC/DC (I think) at the them Point Theatre. Don’t remember much about the gig but I recollect sound was awful for them and somehow worse for the headliners and left early.

One of my favorite bands of all times!! I first met Dug and Ty in my hometown in TX in 1986, I was 13 yrs. old. They were the back-up band for Morgan Cryar. I remember how cool they were for hanging out with a bunch of kids after the show. Later in high school, my brother introduced me to King’s X (Faith, Hope, and Love). When I saw their picture on the CD, I realized that I had met these guys before. Who could forget Dug’s hair at that time.

Best band ever in my opinion.
I’ve been a fan since buying their second album just from reading a review in Kerrang! They immediately became my favourite band and have been ever since.
I never miss them if they come to the UK, and even went to the U.S. to see them too. Incredible musicians and amazingly nice and humble guys too who always have time for the fans.
I wish I could have been at that Marquee gig but I was at the Astoria show not long after. Possibly the best gig I have ever seen. The others that come close are mostly King’s X gigs too!

I was just going through my King’s X collection — I have a bootleg of the Astoria show, April 5 1990. Unfortunately it’s just four songs, tacked onto the end of a Faith No More bootleg CD. Too bad — but sounds like it was a brilliant show!

I should actually try and get on to the old BBC Radio 1 guys in London . As i put in my post , the show was recorded by The Friday Rock Show ( Tommy Vance RIP and Tony Wilson ) but i don’t believe has ever been commercially released . I know the Friday Rock Show / BBC did put some CD’s out of other recordings ( i have one of MSG at Reading ) . If i ever find something out i promise to post it here .

KX is still going strong!!! Rumor has it jerry (AiC) asked ty how he got his guitar sound when Ty hid his rig on stage. I’ve still yet to figure it out. They’re still the future of rock. They create it every album.

One of the best bands, period. Saw them a few times and they always blow me away. They never got to the next level because they were too esoteric for most people. I agree with Billy Sheehan that grunge bands ripped King’s X off and never once admitted it. Love what Ritchie Blackmore said about them on VH1: “I could never follow them, they are a hell of a band.”

My first Kings X gig was in March 1990. I’ve seen them 7 times in total which I’m happy with as I live in Dublin, Ireland and they’ve only played here twice.
As mainstream success has eluded them, it means they have remained accessible to their fanbase, and that has helped fuel my love for this band.
In addition to being a legendary act, having met each of them on several occasions, they are absolute gentlemen. Kings indeed!
A new album is long overdue.

My brother in law went to college with Ty and was their original manager. Back when they were Razor’s Edge. He turned me on to them way back then and it was clear that they had something special. Mega force was their downfall. They wanted hair metal bands with insipid songs and just couldn’t get behind a truly amazing band with intelligent lyrics, especially christian type ones! The thought of them opening for AC/DC is ludicrous. I think that their sticking to their guns and not becoming another Poison is what doomed them.
I got to see them again in a small club in PA a couple years ago and was as blown away as I was way back in the 80’s. dUg has a few really great side projects going now too. I still think they were the greatest band of the 80’s and that they will always be one of my top 10 favorite bands. Right up there with Zeppelin!

Mr Big and Extreme can be two similar examples of non-Poison-like bands, but both achieved success through acoustic songs that had nothing to do with the rest of the songs in the album.
But I hadn’t seen any band that has a singing crowd like when King’s X play Goldilox, every single soul in the crowd singing and even jumpin on the stage to sing in the microfone. That only happen with them as far as I can tell.

They are one of the greatest three piece bands to ever come out. I saw them 2 weeks ago in NJ and even had the chance to meet them afterwards. They blew me away as they always do. They are great musicians and just great people. I will say with full conviction that my opinion is that they were never marketed properly. You don’t know how many times I play King’s X music to people that never heard of them and they like what they here.

Bottom line is if you introduce them to more listeners they will grow a bigger following. I also want to go on record and say that their audience is so extremely loyal. I had guys standing next to me talking about the band and their history to their girlfriends. Songs like ‘Black Flag’, ‘over my head’, ‘king’, ‘fool you’ and ‘vegetable’ sometimes play in my head because their music sticks with you when you love them so much.

Probably the band with the worst luck of all time. They were just coming into their own and grunge hits. They charge forward and are going to play the Jon Stewart show but the LA Riots happen and they play to an empty studio because no one could come to the filming. Then they are considered one of the best acts of 1994 Woodstock shows but are ignored because they don’t fit into the neat package for MTV.

Probably the band with the worst luck of all time. They were just coming into their own and grunge hits. They charge forward and are going to play the Jon Stewart show but the LA Riots happen and they play to an empty studio because no one could come to the filming. Then they are considered one of the best acts of 1994 Woodstock shows but are ignored because they don’t fit into the neat package for MTV.

Why do so many of these comments refer to them in the past tense? They’re still around. They’re on tour, right now. They still kick ass. Jerry’s still a great drummer. Ty’s still a great guitarist. Dug’s still a great bassist. They’re all still phenomenal vocalists. Dug puts out, like, 20-30 side-projects a year. (Ok, that was an exaggeration, but not by much.) The point is, they may not have gotten the super-stardom they so surely deserve, but most actually good bands don’t. It’s the worthless tripe that gets those honors. They did, however, gain an extremely loyal following that has allowed them to continue to keep music their full-time career for the last quarter-century. And that’s worth far more than being a flash-in-the-pan superstar.

I’ve seen King’s X in concert over 15 times, including just last month in Springfield, Va. I’m 62 years old and my children give me the ‘wow, Dad’ response when I tell them of seeing and meeting Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, the Stones, Deep Purple, Crosby, Stills & Nash, etc., etc. King’s X, to this day, remains one of my all-time favorite shows. My 15 year old son finally made it to that show last month, and dUg made him feel like family after the concert. I can’t say enough about my respect and love for King’s X music, and the humble, approachable, and talented guys who are in that band.

King’s X is the most under-rated band of all time. Not only are they fantastic musicians, they are truly good guys. They still do meet and greets after every show and actually talk with and joke around with their fans. My wife and I went to see them in Atlanta last fall, and I took my Strat Elite, hoping to get Ty to autograph it. He looked at the guitar and said “Wow! This is my favorite guitar! Thanks!!”. He autographed it and we joked around for a minute. I’ll not likely forget that night! Needless to say, the performance blew the roof off the place!!!

kings x- the most famous unrecognised band in music history. theyve been given praise by there fans & other musicians but never accepted by mainstream. i agree, when out of the silent planet came out, to me it was a masterpiece. shame it got swept up in trends & other commercially successful sounds of that era. still, they continue on touring, making records & have never strayed from there path or fanbase. ive met them & they are the coolest guys in the world. if more people spent time listening with there minds & hearts rather whats hot i do believe believe kings x wouldve been colossal. side note- theyve been credited by many for inventing the grunge sound-just ask jeff ament or vernon or even mike portnoy

Sure, King’s X released ground-breaking work in a grunge world. That would be tough for any band to overcome. But their opportunity passed, because they chose that, not because (Faith, Hope Love, Dogman) lacked the impact of the first two records. On the contrary, they were gaining serious momentum at that point. Read an interview I did with Ty a few years back and check out his perspective on this. http://www.popmatters.com/feature/kings-x/

Interestingly, the description of the first gig at The Marquee is almost exactly identical to the show i saw on that tour at The Country Club in Reseda, California. The band played and played until they had no more material, though when I saw them, they covered a Hendrix song at the very end (“Purple Haze”, I think).

Ah , this is going back a few years to say the least ! Kings X actually played the Brixton Academy first .They were the opening support to Anthrax . I was local crew at that time . I already had the album after reading the review and interview in Kerrang! After talking to their then stage manager , Dave Hartung , i went down to the Marquee the next day and helped them load in . The show was , as you quite rightly say , blindingly brilliant . I to felt i had seen the beginning of a legend . This must have been what it was like to see Hendrix in a corner bar . I gave Dave Hartung my number and said i did lights .
The Gretchen tour arrived and Dave had given my number to See Factor as a prospect . I got the call . A week later i was on a bus with the guys and away we went . Dug , Ty and Jerry are three of the nicest and most gracious people i have ever met and worked for in what is now 30 years plus of touring . The Gretchen tour was a highlight , especially when we played The Astoria ( not the Marquee ! ) and had Radio 1 Friday Rock Show record it for broadcast . To illustrate how this band affected us , the crew was doing the tour for nothing compared to normal wages . The production manager was Bill Barclay for crying out loud . And if you don’t know that name , i suggest you look it up . We were all there cos we wanted to be around this music that made you believe that rock was the most important thing ever !
As a bumper sticker and T shirt i still own said . “Kings X . The greatest band that you’ve never heard of ! ” Well i heard them and i still hear them . Every album . Every solo album . Every side project . And i’ve never tired of them .

Ah – that explains the presence of Anthrax at the second Marquee show – they supported Anthrax at the Academy the night before. There was only eight months in between the two Marquee shows. I didn’t get to see them at The Astoria, but did catch them supporting AC/DC at Wembley later on. Thanks for sharing your memories!

Yep , that AC/DC support slot . It was brutal for them . I ran some long car rides around to the UK shows . Their Production Manager , Bill Barclay , was a good friend . The song “Lost in Germany” was all about that German part of the tour . The guys in AC/DC loved them but the crowd was really hostile and would boo , heckle and basically didn’t want to hear them , just wanted the Ackers . I remember Dug was really upset by it . Got a song out of it tho !

Kings X and Galactic Cowboys Jan 31, 1999 at Winnipeg’s infamous Royal Albert standing on the tables singing Over my Head. Wow!!! Met Jerry. Great guy. Second time with local guitarist Barry G. Player opening, after the show met Jerry and Dug too this time. Ty wasn’t feeling well and went straight to the bus. Hope with the latest touring they will cross the border into the prairies and tour Canada once again. Great guys, great meaningful, melodic and harmonious Rock… Love it!!! Tons of great music with all the side projects too. Definitely influential.

Dang… looked a my ticket stub this afternoon saw it was Jan30… my memory told me the end of January that year so I remembered the last day, but it was the day before the last day. I was listening to King’s X that day too… music, music I hear music…!!!

Saw my first King’s X Show in a small town in Austria (Europe) when I was 16. My older brother had invited me to the concert and it has been a life-changing experience! Today I’m partly making a living with music and my work is still deeply influenced by King’s X. We always mention the band in interviews, when asked for idols but most young journalists never heard of them.

Grunge didn’t ‘happen’ to King X, they fell victim to what MANY great bands with wit, talent, songwriter and the balls to sound different fall victim to – a general public trained for decades to listen to banal, dull, repetitive, overproduce, undertalended drivel buy MTV.

Also they got labeled as a Christian band. Late 80s not a big deal but was a kiss of death later. Influenced by faith, heck yeah, but a lot of their stuff was deep or heavy but not in the grunge manner. Just saw them a few weeks ago in a 1000 person venue in Chicago, half of the people there were musicians.

Kings X by far my favorite band. The thing I hate is the common theme of everyone commenting here? I haven’t thought about these guys in years? I haven’t stopped thinking about them and listening to them. I never stopped listening to them and I still buy their albums and all their solo projects. They’re just as talented (and perhaps better) today.

I became a fan of Dug, To and Jerry that year OOTSP was released and have had the fortune to see them live 3 times over the years. They are still my favorite all time rock band. It is unfortunate they came along when they did and went unnoticed into rock history. I still buy every new album or side project any of the three guys are involved with, just because I like supporting artists that deserve better recognition. In that, I have found quite a few side projects that produced some really awesome music. Super shine, Jelly Jam, Poundhound and Platypus just to name a few. Even their solo projects resonate with a feel and sound that it pure KX flavor. Your article hit the spot with what I felt at that time when KX appeared on the scene, I wish they had hit it big, but those of us that have enjoyed all of the music all these years know what a hidden gem they are.

“If you like what you hear, go tell somebody.” King’s X is the only band I know that was consistently able to create complex but melodic songs. Whenever I describe them to a friend, they shake their head in disbelief. “You mean to say they have elements from The Beatles to Gospel to Progressive Rock to James Brown to Metal? And they’re one of the best live 3-piece bands in existence? Yeahhhhhh right.” As a musician and writer, I not only find them insatiably entertaining but inspiring as well. Long live KX!

I saw, heard, and met King’s X in the summer of 1989 in Harrisburg, PA.

The atmosphere was charged! I was witnessing something very rare in the music world.

I remember thinking to myself, “This is what people who saw the Beatles in Liverpool must have felt!”

It was a premiere for Faith, Hope, Love.
People all around me were mesmerized.
They were the next big thing. Why it didn’t explode, I don’t know.
Grunge never had the faith, hope & love that the 80’s & 90’s so desperately needed!
All age groups were drawn to Kinkgs X.
Their sound transcended a phase.
It always will.

I see no mention that, at the start, King’s X was a “Christian” band. The majority of their songs had a Christian theme, not overt and in your face, but not exactly hidden, either. I’ve always felt that it was this “Christian” affiliation which reduced their acceptance. And that is the shame, because King’s X has always delivered.

My story goes back to 1994. I live in Spring, TX (a suburb of Houston) and was working in my yard one day when this “short-haired guy” drives by and stops in front of my house, gets out and asks me if I have been hearing loud drums recently and that if I did please don’t call the cops since it is his son practicing and would appreciate just letting him know so that they can “turn down.” I was already a Kings X fan at this time but didn’t immediately recognize Jerry with his just recently cut short hair. However, after a brief conversation it didn’t take long for me to realize this was Jerry Gaskill and discovered he lived in a house with his kids and girl friend on the street behind me. Long story short, we became friends yet no one else in our neighborhood knew of Kings X.

I play guitar and later that year I had a party at my house where I was playing with a couple of friends on bass and drums. Jerry came over and asked if he could play drums. To this day, I will never forget how unbelievable he made us sound as we just jammed for about an hour…making up songs as we went. The highlight of my “musical career”…..what a great guy and a great band. Still see them every time they play in Houston.

They still are truly fantastic! I’ve had the honor and privilege to see these guys live many times in this 21st century and believe me, they still rock. Do yourself a favor and buy up their library. There is no other band like King’s X and I’ll never get tired of their music and all of each member’s side projects. Hours of listening. Never been to a rock show where the band members spend so much time meeting and talking to anyone that is interested. If they come to your area, do not miss it!

Truly one of the most original bands of all time. I’m going to finally see them live in Charlotte this year and I’m beyond stoked. They never received the attention that was deserved and if you’ve ever listened to AIC and not heard their influence you may need to turn it off. Still the greatest harmonies in the game.